no
by what a lovely way to burn
Summary: — maybe tonight will be the night jace's mantra changes.


_**author's notes:** this is a repost from my previous account_.

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 **no**

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Jace Herondale sat at a mundane bar somewhere in New York. It was a Saturday night, so the bar wasn't very busy, but he was still drawing admiring glances from every female in the room. The males — especially the ones accompanying the women — glared at him, but Jace ignored them.

He was used to it, after all.

Pretty much anywhere he went, he drew unwanted attention from women of all ages. Hell, he had once seen a little girl blush at the sight of him. He knew he was handsome —often flaunted it, in fact — but he really didn't care for all the admirers. He just wanted to have a drink in peace without being ogled by every female — and some men — in the bar.

He slammed his glass down on the counter. "Another, if you please," he requested. The bartender, a pretty young redhead, nodded and smiled. She took the glass and refilled it with scotch from a large bottle labeled Lagavulin. She handed it back to him with another smile, and this time, Jace returned it.

Just then, a tall blonde woman came up to Jace and wrapped her arms around his neck. She wore a low-cut, very revealing black dress that barely reached mid-thigh, black stilettos, and her face was practically caked with makeup. She smelled of alcohol and cheap perfume that made Jace's eyes water.

"Well, 'ello, handsome," she purred in his ear. Jace shivered from her breath ghosting over his ear — but not in a good way. The blonde bimbo mistook that as an invitation, and crawled into his lap, nearly kneeing the family jewels. _She really needs to learn how to treat her toys with respect,_ Jace thought. _Not that I would ever 'play' with her._

"Care to go somewhere?" she asked flirtatiously. It came off sounding slurred and drunk.

"No, thank you," Jace declined politely. He was used to this — women falling over themselves. The bartender was watching them with a disgusted expression.

"Oh, come on, honey bunches," the blonde woman protested with a pout of her overly-lipsticked lips. "Let loose. Have some fuunnnn!" She giggled drunkenly and nearly slid off Jace's lap. He sighed, and put his hands on either side of her too-thin waist, neatly depositing her on her feet.

She stumbled and giggled again. Jace rolled his eyes.

"Sweet'eart, come to beddddd," she slurred. "I can't wait to undress you and see what yourrrr —"

She was interrupted by the bartender clearing her throat. "Excuse me, ma'am. Shall I call a cab for you?"

The woman rolled her eyes. "You just want him to yourself," she accused, pointing a shaking finger at the redhead. She hiccuped.

"Ma'am, I have no time to deal with drunks such as yourself. Your cab should be here in ten minutes."

The blonde leaned over the counter and stared straight at the bartender — who had bright green eyes, Jace suddenly noticed. "Piss —" she hiccuped again "— off."

The red-haired girl rolled her eyes and leaned against the counter. A few minutes passed, then: "Oh, look, ma'am. There's your cab!" She grabbed the blonde woman's arm and dragged her outside, then shoved her outside and slammed the door after her. She leaned against the door.

"Whew!"

Jace suddenly realized that they were the only people left in the bar. "Are you closing up?" He asked. He suddenly realized how short the redhead was. She couldn't have been much over five feet, with minimal curves and a petite frame. She was really quite pretty, in a cute girl-next-door kind of way, with her long red hair, bright emerald-green eyes, and the sprinkling of reddish-gold freckles across the bridge of her nose and tops of her cheeks. Her skin looked almost luminescent in the dim light from outside, and he was tempted to reach out and see if it was as soft as it looked.

She gave a start. "What? Oh, no. Everyone's usually gone by now, though. Would you care for a drink? It's on me." She smiled hopefully. She was close enough that Jace could see her name tag, which read _Clary._

He opened his mouth to say 'no,' but found himself stopping, the word still on the tip of his tongue. He smiled back. And, for the first time, said:

"Yes, please."


End file.
